In ways it is. Grammatically, it’s actually fairly basic compared to something like, say, Spanish, which has about 45 billion ways to conjugate a single verb 🙂
Hahaha. That’s awesome. Perfect example of why the English language is totally crazy, and yet I still love it so. After all, how else would I bamboozle audiences across the blogosphere.
Also, we get words like bamboozle, and callipygian, and perfunctory!
As an English teacher/Editor/Grammar Guru, I can attest to the truth of this comment. The language is a cruel mistress that often leaves one wanting! 😀
Looked it up and clicked on the first link. Read the whole page, and now I have a headache. XD But I have to admit, they do have some good points. I think. Did I read it right?
Love this! I am on the verge of going round the city I live in with a black marker pen to administer first aid to the mangled apostrophe’s (yes, yes, I know it’s ‘apostrophes’ – just demonstrating) I see everywhere. To coin a phrase – “I’m mad as hell and I can’t take it any more!!!”
Just thinking about this makes me mad. Can’t tell you how many apostrophe errors I’ve seen on storefront windows. I approve looting of these businesses.
Yep! Crazy to think that the average person has about a 12,000 word vocabulary and English contains or has contained (correct me if I’m wrong) around 800,000 words
Congrats on being fresh-pressed. Where were you when I was trying to teach grammar to my students? I could’ve used your talents to get some of those stickier points across! Thanks for sharing.
Nice. English is crazy. This reminds me of something I remember seeing that said something to the effect of, “English doesn’t steal from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleyways, clubs them over the head and then plunders their pockets for spare change.”
Odd spelling is probably the result of hundreds of years of being occupied by many invaders from many countries, innit? I don’t like using ‘innit’. I’d rather use ‘isn’t it?’, but ‘innit’ is an example of an evolving language just like any other.
It may be that the English didn’t steal aspects of other languages. Other languages were probably assimilated into English through their occupation.
@chelseavose: Those who have learnt it as their first language are not spared the trouble though. Natives often mistakenly think so, but there are always loads of fine points that you just can’t get the better of.
It will be interesting to see how English develops over a few decades. Perhaps the spelling will become simpler and thereby increase ease of use. I’m sure many will say there’s value in keeping all the quirks as they are, but at any rate it’s not reasonable to believe that things will stay the same. Our languages are supposed to let us communicate, and in a way it’s a bit sad that so many people seem to think rules are more important than the communication itself. I think rules should be propagated down the generations as long as they give language some kind of added value. (Actually, I guess that probably is the way it happens in the long run.)
On a side note, I’m happy English is not my native language. 🙂
Would probably have been a lot harder to learn other languages in that case.
I find oftentimes that fluent speakers of English as their second language often have a FAR better grasp of grammar than native English speakers, simply because they’ve had to learn explicitly rather than implicitly. I certainly hope English does not become over-simplified in the interest of streamlining communication
Agreed, and that goes for languages in general. I have learnt a lot about the rules of my own language (Swedish) in trying to teach it to others.
“I certainly hope English does not become over-simplified in the interest of streamlining communication”
Maybe one day, we will speak “Simplified English” instead of “Traditional English,” like what has happened to mainland Chinese. 🙂 Can’t say I’m looking forward to that day either though.
Oh, you think you’re funny making fun of the homeless, do you? You should be ashamed of yourself. Just kidding! First Daniel Tosh with his ‘Febreze the homeless’ bit, and now you.
Cool cartoon–I read with great trepidation because I tutor creative writing and SAT Critical Reading–yikes! Am SO not a grammarian, and I warn parents and students of this.
Woe is me, because I’ve recently caught myself (more than once!) trying to spell ‘weird’ as ‘wierd’ and only after too many moments realizing how wierd that looks. I mean weird.
Well, English is not my native tongue and I’d say it’s fairly easy to learn on a “basic” level plus, even native speakers -too many times, it seems – know not much about many of the rules. Now, if you want real, and I mean r-e-a-l fun, try learning a Scandinavian language, especially Danish. I never got a satisfying answer as to WHY rules where the way they were. In fact, the problem was there was often no rule to quote. One had to just learn it. “Det kommer” (“it comes”, or “it shall come”) was many a teacher’s favorite phrase (so as to imply one would one day wake up and magically understand the language. Ha! what an adventurous assumption)
I´m Spanish and I speak other languages. English isn´t as difficult as it seems, it´s just a matter of paying more attention to what we say or write. Spanish is more difficult and its grammar is worse than the English one. The only advantage for us is that we write the same that we speak. The main problem I see with English is that people don´t distinguish certain words when spelling or writing, I´ve met a lot of natives and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of grammar and spelling mistakes they do. I think that people don´t care or don´t pay attention when they learn. Reading is very helpful and useful to learn and/or improve a language. It is very surprising to me when I find out that certain people whose native language is English are unable to see the difference between ” their” and “they are or they´re”, between “hear” and “here” , between “it´s” or “its” or when they write “must of” instead of “must have”…etc. If I can speak and write correctly in a language that isn´t mine, why can´t natives?
To answer, in short – All the mistakes you have mentioned are usually not mistakes due to a lack of understanding, but rather misspellings because of phonetics. Unfortunately, a lot of people (English speaking and otherwise) don’t write enough, and as a result their skills suffer.
That being said… I am a grammar guru! I pick out mistakes all the time. I understand blogs are supposed to be relaxed and no one should be looking for the wrong use of a comma, but I can’t help it sometimes!! AH! I wish I could turn it off! LOL
Great BLOG!
English is so rightly regarded as one of the toughest languages. Even Indian languages like HIndi and Tamil and I know are not as random as certain ‘rules’ in English.
Poor guru, I pity him 😛
NIce comic! Cheers! 🙂
It often has frustrating “rules”, but I often think it’s regarded as one of the toughest because it is globally ubiquitous, yet the meta-language is rarely taught. A lot of seemingly strange rules or exceptions have very valid explanations that a lot of people just don’t realize. Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the comic 🙂
Just last week, I passed by a business (which shall remain unnamed) with a sign that said, “TUE FAMILY NITE. $1.99 HAPPY MEALS”
I wanted to go in and give the guy a pat on the back and tell him thanks for setting a new standard of phonetic spelling.
Instead, I took a picture on my phone and sent to all of my friends so that we could all sit around and laugh at the poor guy.
Also, what gets to me is the way our dictionaries have just begun to accept misspellings and mispronunciations as a secondary or informal version of the correct form.
Regardless of Websters’ tendency to simplify and dumb down our language, I still believe in the correct way as opposed to the incorrect way.
Did I get off topic? I think so. Damn soap boxes… they always run away with ya.
I once read in a book that there is only one word in the English language, out of which can be made a sentence of any length using only that word. As a grammar guru, you may know this but if not, the word is “buffalo.” Hard to believe, but the key is that buffalo is a noun and a verb (meaning to intimidate by show of force) and the spelling is the same whether plural or singular. It works like this. Buffalo! That’s a one-word declaration you scream when buffalo are running at you. Buffalo buffalo, means buffalo intimidate. Buffalo buffalo buffalo means buffalo intimidate buffalo. The best part is when you add the fifth buffalo. Here’s the insite. Take this sentence: Dogs that kids like are nice. In this sentence you can drop the “that” and it’s grammatically okay. Thus, Dogs kids like are nice. So: buffalo that buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo. That is, buffalo that intimidate buffalo intimidate buffalo. Now drop the “that.” Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. Which translates to: buffalo that buffalo intimidate, intimidate buffalo. Thought I’d share for you and your readers. Great blog.
I remember being taught the rule this way “i before e except after c except when said ay as in neighbor and weigh” which is a helpful if you don’t consider words like weird and ancient. Of course this is why I never really cared for grammar. It makes no sense.
I remember being taught the rule this way “i before e except after c except when said ay as in neighbor and weigh” which is a helpful if you don’t consider words like weird and ancient. Of course this is why I never really cared for grammar. It makes no sense.
I think you should put some kind of copyright notice on your drawings or something that will track back to you/your website. I think there will be a lot of people taking your work without your permission. You may not mind people using your work, but I think it is only fair for you to be recognised for it.
This is so true! I always think how hard English would be as a second language because of words like their, there and they’re and its and it’s and most of the time there are not definite rules to follow! Loved this.
I remember this rule of “i before e except after c” from the Charlies Brown movie “A Boy Named Charlies Brown” and chant it in my head while writing when in doubt! As always there must be exceptions, damn! Thanks for your cartoon . . .it too will probably stick in my head now! I take exception to glaring grammar errors and hope I don’t make too many myself when writing my blog, though I do use many exclamation points. I’m very fond of them for emphasis!
Ahahaha. Great comic!
I get especially tickled at word play/grammar jokes, so I really enjoyed and appreciated this.
Off to explore what other wonderful tidbits you’ve got here! 🙂
I love this because I have never associated being skilled at grammar with being skilled at spelling. To me, they’re just two separate entities entirely. I could diagram the heck out of some sentences but for sure be disqualified within the first round of a spelling bee!
Years ago, and I mean MANY years, I had a sign on my dorm room door that said “Seize the Day”. Someone in my dorm crossed out the “Seize” and wrote “Sieze” – with the rule in parentheses. I was so glad they were of such help.
Hilarious!!!!! I pretty much have the i before e except after c with exceptions down patt…but I continue to have problems with womens’ room, or is it women’s room…same with mens’ room, or is it men’s room?….and I was an English major 🙂
Heh. It’s always men’s and women’s. “men” and “women” are plural nouns already, so “mens” and “womens” are both never correct. Thanks for the comment! I was also an English major but got obsessive over grammar only after getting into teaching. Cheers!
Oh my gosh, it’s like the story of my life! Trying to teach people the wonders of English grammar when half of it doesn’t actually make sense according to its own rules…yup, that’s exactly me. Does my heart good to see myself in short, blue, cartoon caricature form. 🙂
This is fabulous!!! I am delighted to have found Grammar Guru, as grammar and punctuation are an obsession of mine, as well. I can’t wait to read through the rest of your site and will be returning often!
Weird is spelled with the e before the i. You can’t have weird without the we.
The slogan of my blog used to be Hunter S. Thompson’s saying, when the going gets weird the weird turn pro. I spelled it wrong at first, until someone corrected me. How can you fault a person for spelling weird wrong when they quote Hunter S. Thompson.
This is a great site! I have read almost all your posts! I am one of those crazy people who actually enjoyed diagraming sentences in High School and College. I was a Communication Disorders major so maybe that’s why :). Keep up the good work!
The original (British) English was already full of mistakes to begin with because not many people could spell back then. Actually, not many can spell now.
Spelling ancient reminds me of a 2008 trip I made to England for my birthday. I went into a Waterstones (bookshop) to buy two maps printed by the Ordinance Survey: one which showed Britain as it was in Roman times and one which showed Britain in ancient times. The young lad who was helping me locate the maps asked to pertinent questions:
1. Where in Britain is ancient? (the OS maps are divided by region)
2. How do you spell ancient? A-N-G…?
Its one of those common things that we are always told as students but when you really think about it doesn’t work! You are hilarious! I’m new to wordpress and please check out my blog and follow back!
x x Indie Evie
I love it…..but please don’t sign up for my blog! I am for sure not a grammar-guru.
I love the I before E except after C rule and I use it all the time, just because it is the rule. I love writting to my cousin Kieth.
Hahah. great comic. I did a really cool grammar project a few years back for my senior project for my undergrad and it was infuriating to get all the rules right while rhyming! It’s actually on my blog now if anyone cares to gander. Some of these rules are absurd! Frankenstein language!
We just had this discussion over the Sunday crossword puzzle, so it’s ironic that I would have come across it today! I think that grammar is not an exact…science (i before e except after c)?
Same! I majored in English, and thought I was pretty sharp grammatically. I realized I knew nothing when I had my first interview to be an ESL teacher, years ago:
“How would you explain to students the difference between present perfect and past simple?”
“Uhhh….”
Ha! As a teacher, I can relate! I’ve had to eat a few bread sandwiches in my day (that’s when you take two pieces of bread, and put them together. Then you eat them)
English has so many branches it can be very hard at times to store all of it at once.For the most part we even have word definitions that change so much it is hard to keep track half of the time lol.Love the cartoon very funny indeed,thank you for the post.
Ps.First laugh I have had all day really needed that!!!
Please don’t make them too smooth! I might not recognize them. )= Also, I don’t want to weep into my pillow over the unfairness of the world. I do that enough each time I see a spread in Sports Illustrated featuring the perfectly Photoshopped bodies of aliens from supreme race models.
Don’t worry! I’ll be sure to keep the “charm” intact. I write out all the dialogue by hand even though it takes me ages, because I think typed dialogue would take away from the humour a bit. I’m a fan of all those blogs too; there’s something about Angry Pear especially that I find subtly hilarious. My personal favourite of ALL TIMES is the Perry Bible Fellowship, though. 😀
As a former adjunct in English composition, I LOVE this blog! As As a writer, I LOVE this blog. As a stickler for grammar, I LOVE Grammar Guru! Great information with humor and art.
Hello my friend, your blog helped in understanding English language more. Plus I enjoyed your comics a lot too. They always make me laugh especially this one “Grammar Guru” .
I see that your blog is genius and fun that I nominated you to have this award. Kindly check it out here: http://allaboutlemon.com/2012/01/31/omg-my-2nd-genuine-blogger-award/
Keep up the good work and have fun 🙂
Thanks!
When I was in third grade, I remember a teacher telling me, “You spelled ‘their’ wrong.” And I replied, “No I didn’t! I before E except after C!” It was a long time until I finally changed my ways.
Boggleton Drive 
Hahaha!! That’s hilarious! Poor old guru…he should be holding a sign saying “Will spell for food”. 😉
Tough to catch a break in these hard economic times 🙂
Nice !!
lol, so true. No wonder they say English is the most difficult language to learn…
In ways it is. Grammatically, it’s actually fairly basic compared to something like, say, Spanish, which has about 45 billion ways to conjugate a single verb 🙂
Try learning Hungarian or Finnish for a real mind boggle.
well, my 25 year-old 12th grade English teacher told me this, so… 🙂
At least Spanish can be spelled phonetically though. Great post btw!
Very true. English spelling can be zany: “knight”? Why would it ever be spelled that way? Thanks for the comment!
Hahaha. That’s awesome. Perfect example of why the English language is totally crazy, and yet I still love it so. After all, how else would I bamboozle audiences across the blogosphere.
Also, we get words like bamboozle, and callipygian, and perfunctory!
I won’t lie, I had to google callipygian. I tip my hat to you, sir.
Totally agree with you re: the English language. Rules? Meh! English’ll follow ’em when they’re convenient. 🙂
I second that!
Such nuance to our language — such that even poor Grammar Guru doesn’t always have the answers!
😉
Spelling “rules” often just cause more confusion than clarity in English. Hard to not feel sorry for the guy 🙂
Great work! Grammar reminds me of phonics which reminds me of the nuns in grade school…owwww!…what a diphthong!
Congratulations!
Ha!
Thanks! Much appreciated 🙂
I need a grammar guru – even a hungry one will do!
I love it haha
Thanks 🙂
As an English teacher/Editor/Grammar Guru, I can attest to the truth of this comment. The language is a cruel mistress that often leaves one wanting! 😀
An attractive one, though! I’m sure you’d agree that there needs to be more grammar in English classrooms.
The english language is a great example of something that was produced by the principle of “make it up as you go along”!
English is kind of like the Frankenstein monster, really. Just pieced together from other languages 🙂
I dunt no wuht yaz mean. Englesh is a eerzie languwidge to spell.
Ronnie
Look up “Anglic” spelling in google… Makes me cringe that people wanted that 😛
Looked it up and clicked on the first link. Read the whole page, and now I have a headache. XD But I have to admit, they do have some good points. I think. Did I read it right?
Haha. I actually said to myself the other day, “Hmm…weird is spelled with e first!” Great post! 🙂
It’s almost like the spelling of weird is intentionally weird. 😉
Love this! I am on the verge of going round the city I live in with a black marker pen to administer first aid to the mangled apostrophe’s (yes, yes, I know it’s ‘apostrophes’ – just demonstrating) I see everywhere. To coin a phrase – “I’m mad as hell and I can’t take it any more!!!”
Just thinking about this makes me mad. Can’t tell you how many apostrophe errors I’ve seen on storefront windows. I approve looting of these businesses.
HAhaha, this is SO funny! I love it.
Thanks!
Great Post!
Will share it with my feisty friends.
Thanks for sharing! Much appreciated. 🙂
glad i learned english as my first language haha
Hilarious!
Why thank you!
Haha! This is great!
It’s true, English does have a lot of irregular words that don’t fit the general pattern/rules.
Thanks! And yes, it definitely does 🙂
Awww, poor guru. Ain’t rules always full of exceptions that no one tells you about until they’ve done your head in? Thanks for making me smile 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
i before e except after c and when pronounced as ‘ay’ as in neighbour and weigh.
You must pronounce “weird” pretty weirdly then 😉
I learned that from Brian Regan.
very funny…. and “write”
Thank you!
Hilarious, and once again proving that in the English language, there are five exceptions to every iron-clad rule.
Or as the less grammatically astute might incorrectly say, “acceptions” to the rule. *shudder*
Thanks!
dont get me started on grammar lol
love the animation
val
http://valentinedefrancis.blogspot.com/
HAHAHAHA Sooo happy I already know English. It’s a hard language to learn imo. So many exceptions, and it also has the most words ^_^
Yep! Crazy to think that the average person has about a 12,000 word vocabulary and English contains or has contained (correct me if I’m wrong) around 800,000 words
REALLY??? That’s crazy! Didn’t know that one…And the number would be even larger if we were in the Elizabethan times =O
Love your little characters (so bright and colorful!) and, of course, gotta love your humor or is it humour, here? :~ )
It’s “humour” up here in Canada, although we’re cool with either as look as you pick one and stick with it 🙂
Congrats on being fresh-pressed. Where were you when I was trying to teach grammar to my students? I could’ve used your talents to get some of those stickier points across! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much! Grammar can be so dry; I started teaching this way mostly out of sheer boredom 😉
That was amazing! Love it.
Appreciate it! 😀
Really amazing!
Thanks!!
Can I get a “love” button to click instead of just a “like”??? : )
Thanks! Very flattering 🙂
Well said!
Nice. English is crazy. This reminds me of something I remember seeing that said something to the effect of, “English doesn’t steal from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleyways, clubs them over the head and then plunders their pockets for spare change.”
Thanks! Congrats on being fresh-pressed yourself (very funny post!). Looking forward to reading more
Oh my god, the weird wonders of English wrapped up in a cartoon….
But we have to love the idiosyncrasies of English, don’t we? 🙂
Indeed.
Congrats from one Freshly Pressed-er to another. Love the post.
Congrats to you too! Couldn’t agree with you more re: people talking too much 🙂
I love this!!!!! ❤
Odd spelling is probably the result of hundreds of years of being occupied by many invaders from many countries, innit? I don’t like using ‘innit’. I’d rather use ‘isn’t it?’, but ‘innit’ is an example of an evolving language just like any other.
It may be that the English didn’t steal aspects of other languages. Other languages were probably assimilated into English through their occupation.
They absolutely were. The Anglo-Saxons had a lot to do with that, but that’s a comic for another day 🙂
@chelseavose: Those who have learnt it as their first language are not spared the trouble though. Natives often mistakenly think so, but there are always loads of fine points that you just can’t get the better of.
It will be interesting to see how English develops over a few decades. Perhaps the spelling will become simpler and thereby increase ease of use. I’m sure many will say there’s value in keeping all the quirks as they are, but at any rate it’s not reasonable to believe that things will stay the same. Our languages are supposed to let us communicate, and in a way it’s a bit sad that so many people seem to think rules are more important than the communication itself. I think rules should be propagated down the generations as long as they give language some kind of added value. (Actually, I guess that probably is the way it happens in the long run.)
On a side note, I’m happy English is not my native language. 🙂
Would probably have been a lot harder to learn other languages in that case.
Nice comment.
I find oftentimes that fluent speakers of English as their second language often have a FAR better grasp of grammar than native English speakers, simply because they’ve had to learn explicitly rather than implicitly. I certainly hope English does not become over-simplified in the interest of streamlining communication
Agreed, and that goes for languages in general. I have learnt a lot about the rules of my own language (Swedish) in trying to teach it to others.
“I certainly hope English does not become over-simplified in the interest of streamlining communication”
Maybe one day, we will speak “Simplified English” instead of “Traditional English,” like what has happened to mainland Chinese. 🙂 Can’t say I’m looking forward to that day either though.
Oh, you think you’re funny making fun of the homeless, do you? You should be ashamed of yourself. Just kidding! First Daniel Tosh with his ‘Febreze the homeless’ bit, and now you.
Awesome!!
LOVE THIS!!!
Thank you!!
Great little cartoon. They do say that the exception confirms the rule !
Thank you kindly!
Hah! Nice one!
Like I have heard people say ” English is a very phunny language” !! (pun intended)
Cool cartoon–I read with great trepidation because I tutor creative writing and SAT Critical Reading–yikes! Am SO not a grammarian, and I warn parents and students of this.
hahahaha… lol..
*was surprised with the end of the story 😀
incredible!
Well thanks very much!
Love it! Very witty.
Thanks! Glad you like it
Haha I love this. Although I feel bad for the Guru. I’ll give him 50 mental dollars. 😀
I like this post.
absolutely funny. Grammar guru is completely stumped.
That “i” and “e” crap gets em every time! (I mean me…lol)
Great fun read! Loved it a lot.
funny
Woe is me, because I’ve recently caught myself (more than once!) trying to spell ‘weird’ as ‘wierd’ and only after too many moments realizing how wierd that looks. I mean weird.
Well, English is not my native tongue and I’d say it’s fairly easy to learn on a “basic” level plus, even native speakers -too many times, it seems – know not much about many of the rules. Now, if you want real, and I mean r-e-a-l fun, try learning a Scandinavian language, especially Danish. I never got a satisfying answer as to WHY rules where the way they were. In fact, the problem was there was often no rule to quote. One had to just learn it. “Det kommer” (“it comes”, or “it shall come”) was many a teacher’s favorite phrase (so as to imply one would one day wake up and magically understand the language. Ha! what an adventurous assumption)
Love it!
LOL! this blog is really interesting! love it so much! i like the pictures, it’s so fancy and funny! great work! 😀
Awesome post! Damn those exceptions to the rule, anyway. 😉
Damn them all! 😛
Glad you like BD!
awesome!! 😀
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I´m Spanish and I speak other languages. English isn´t as difficult as it seems, it´s just a matter of paying more attention to what we say or write. Spanish is more difficult and its grammar is worse than the English one. The only advantage for us is that we write the same that we speak. The main problem I see with English is that people don´t distinguish certain words when spelling or writing, I´ve met a lot of natives and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of grammar and spelling mistakes they do. I think that people don´t care or don´t pay attention when they learn. Reading is very helpful and useful to learn and/or improve a language. It is very surprising to me when I find out that certain people whose native language is English are unable to see the difference between ” their” and “they are or they´re”, between “hear” and “here” , between “it´s” or “its” or when they write “must of” instead of “must have”…etc. If I can speak and write correctly in a language that isn´t mine, why can´t natives?
Good comment!
To answer, in short – All the mistakes you have mentioned are usually not mistakes due to a lack of understanding, but rather misspellings because of phonetics. Unfortunately, a lot of people (English speaking and otherwise) don’t write enough, and as a result their skills suffer.
That being said… I am a grammar guru! I pick out mistakes all the time. I understand blogs are supposed to be relaxed and no one should be looking for the wrong use of a comma, but I can’t help it sometimes!! AH! I wish I could turn it off! LOL
Great BLOG!
Things like double exclamation marks as well?
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Hilarious!
I can see why you were Freshly Pressed!
The grammar guru in Jen’s office should read this!
Yeah this is pretty much awesome
Oh, i loved this!! Thanks.
Haha, love it! =D
Glad you do!
Awesome! Great drawings 😀
Thanks so much; with my crappy decade-old mouse, the drawings take ages to do. Glad you like ’em!
English is so rightly regarded as one of the toughest languages. Even Indian languages like HIndi and Tamil and I know are not as random as certain ‘rules’ in English.
Poor guru, I pity him 😛
NIce comic! Cheers! 🙂
It often has frustrating “rules”, but I often think it’s regarded as one of the toughest because it is globally ubiquitous, yet the meta-language is rarely taught. A lot of seemingly strange rules or exceptions have very valid explanations that a lot of people just don’t realize. Thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed the comic 🙂
Just last week, I passed by a business (which shall remain unnamed) with a sign that said, “TUE FAMILY NITE. $1.99 HAPPY MEALS”
I wanted to go in and give the guy a pat on the back and tell him thanks for setting a new standard of phonetic spelling.
Instead, I took a picture on my phone and sent to all of my friends so that we could all sit around and laugh at the poor guy.
Also, what gets to me is the way our dictionaries have just begun to accept misspellings and mispronunciations as a secondary or informal version of the correct form.
Regardless of Websters’ tendency to simplify and dumb down our language, I still believe in the correct way as opposed to the incorrect way.
Did I get off topic? I think so. Damn soap boxes… they always run away with ya.
Hilarious stuff…nice post on the wierdness of the ancient language…
Awesome!
this takes me back to 2nd grade when I lost the spelling bee spelling nieghbor wrong – dammit – did i do it again?!? Thanks for the humiliating laugh.
That was a fun and refreshing post. I enjoyed the cartoon style. Cheers!
I believe someone came up with the rule I before E except after C before the words weird, ancient, neighbors, etc were invented.
I once read in a book that there is only one word in the English language, out of which can be made a sentence of any length using only that word. As a grammar guru, you may know this but if not, the word is “buffalo.” Hard to believe, but the key is that buffalo is a noun and a verb (meaning to intimidate by show of force) and the spelling is the same whether plural or singular. It works like this. Buffalo! That’s a one-word declaration you scream when buffalo are running at you. Buffalo buffalo, means buffalo intimidate. Buffalo buffalo buffalo means buffalo intimidate buffalo. The best part is when you add the fifth buffalo. Here’s the insite. Take this sentence: Dogs that kids like are nice. In this sentence you can drop the “that” and it’s grammatically okay. Thus, Dogs kids like are nice. So: buffalo that buffalo buffalo, buffalo buffalo. That is, buffalo that intimidate buffalo intimidate buffalo. Now drop the “that.” Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. Which translates to: buffalo that buffalo intimidate, intimidate buffalo. Thought I’d share for you and your readers. Great blog.
Interesting — I’ve never heard that before. That has got to be the strangest sentence I’ve ever seen. Thanks for sharing that!
I remember being taught the rule this way “i before e except after c except when said ay as in neighbor and weigh” which is a helpful if you don’t consider words like weird and ancient. Of course this is why I never really cared for grammar. It makes no sense.
I remember being taught the rule this way “i before e except after c except when said ay as in neighbor and weigh” which is a helpful if you don’t consider words like weird and ancient. Of course this is why I never really cared for grammar. It makes no sense.
I was the same way, but learning about it puts a LOT into perspective. Trust me! Enjoy the comics!
great way to have fun and teach grammar too:))
I think you should put some kind of copyright notice on your drawings or something that will track back to you/your website. I think there will be a lot of people taking your work without your permission. You may not mind people using your work, but I think it is only fair for you to be recognised for it.
All work is copyrighted, but thank you for your comment — a very valid point!
Very funny post. I never think of how weird English is since it’s my only language, but it really is, isn’t it?
Hahahahaha great post. Keep bringing us Guru!
Thats v.nice. 😉
This is so true! I always think how hard English would be as a second language because of words like their, there and they’re and its and it’s and most of the time there are not definite rules to follow! Loved this.
The basics are actually quite simple, but mastering it is definitely tough! thanks for your comment!
Good one… keep going…:)
I remember this rule of “i before e except after c” from the Charlies Brown movie “A Boy Named Charlies Brown” and chant it in my head while writing when in doubt! As always there must be exceptions, damn! Thanks for your cartoon . . .it too will probably stick in my head now! I take exception to glaring grammar errors and hope I don’t make too many myself when writing my blog, though I do use many exclamation points. I’m very fond of them for emphasis!
I had so much fun while reading it, or perhaps seeing it. Thank you for that!
Awesome!, I like you post.
Ahahaha. Great comic!
I get especially tickled at word play/grammar jokes, so I really enjoyed and appreciated this.
Off to explore what other wonderful tidbits you’ve got here! 🙂
Thanks! Hope you enjoy the comics!
I love the way some people use words, I guess that’s what makes them stand out.
Lovely post BTW 🙂
hahaha! funny.
I love this because I have never associated being skilled at grammar with being skilled at spelling. To me, they’re just two separate entities entirely. I could diagram the heck out of some sentences but for sure be disqualified within the first round of a spelling bee!
Adorable!
LOL!
Superb! Wish I could draw.
Years ago, and I mean MANY years, I had a sign on my dorm room door that said “Seize the Day”. Someone in my dorm crossed out the “Seize” and wrote “Sieze” – with the rule in parentheses. I was so glad they were of such help.
Haha! Isn’t that the worst? I’ll have a comic on a similar one soon 🙂
Hilarious!!!!! I pretty much have the i before e except after c with exceptions down patt…but I continue to have problems with womens’ room, or is it women’s room…same with mens’ room, or is it men’s room?….and I was an English major 🙂
Heh. It’s always men’s and women’s. “men” and “women” are plural nouns already, so “mens” and “womens” are both never correct. Thanks for the comment! I was also an English major but got obsessive over grammar only after getting into teaching. Cheers!
Oh my gosh, it’s like the story of my life! Trying to teach people the wonders of English grammar when half of it doesn’t actually make sense according to its own rules…yup, that’s exactly me. Does my heart good to see myself in short, blue, cartoon caricature form. 🙂
What street is he begging on? I could do with asking him the difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’…
I love it.
This is fabulous!!! I am delighted to have found Grammar Guru, as grammar and punctuation are an obsession of mine, as well. I can’t wait to read through the rest of your site and will be returning often!
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy the comics
This is great!
The joys of the English language. More grammar rules fall into the exception. It’s a wonder it’s a global language.
Weird is spelled with the e before the i. You can’t have weird without the we.
The slogan of my blog used to be Hunter S. Thompson’s saying, when the going gets weird the weird turn pro. I spelled it wrong at first, until someone corrected me. How can you fault a person for spelling weird wrong when they quote Hunter S. Thompson.
LOL! This was great! Feel bad for the guru though!
English language! The 7th wonder of the world!
LOVE the GURU!
This is a great site! I have read almost all your posts! I am one of those crazy people who actually enjoyed diagraming sentences in High School and College. I was a Communication Disorders major so maybe that’s why :). Keep up the good work!
Evelyn
cofchristelcajon.wordpress.com
HaHa! You made my morning, thanks!
The original (British) English was already full of mistakes to begin with because not many people could spell back then. Actually, not many can spell now.
Spelling ancient reminds me of a 2008 trip I made to England for my birthday. I went into a Waterstones (bookshop) to buy two maps printed by the Ordinance Survey: one which showed Britain as it was in Roman times and one which showed Britain in ancient times. The young lad who was helping me locate the maps asked to pertinent questions:
1. Where in Britain is ancient? (the OS maps are divided by region)
2. How do you spell ancient? A-N-G…?
Its one of those common things that we are always told as students but when you really think about it doesn’t work! You are hilarious! I’m new to wordpress and please check out my blog and follow back!
x x Indie Evie
this is hilarious! you did an excellent wordplay :)))
I love it…..but please don’t sign up for my blog! I am for sure not a grammar-guru.
I love the I before E except after C rule and I use it all the time, just because it is the rule. I love writting to my cousin Kieth.
Haha! I’ve got a friend named “Niel” too. Funny stuff — thanks!
Hahah. great comic. I did a really cool grammar project a few years back for my senior project for my undergrad and it was infuriating to get all the rules right while rhyming! It’s actually on my blog now if anyone cares to gander. Some of these rules are absurd! Frankenstein language!
We just had this discussion over the Sunday crossword puzzle, so it’s ironic that I would have come across it today! I think that grammar is not an exact…science (i before e except after c)?
This is hilarious! you did an excellent wordplay…..very nice…
love this! i majored in english and would often marvel at how schizo it was. gotta love it!
Same! I majored in English, and thought I was pretty sharp grammatically. I realized I knew nothing when I had my first interview to be an ESL teacher, years ago:
“How would you explain to students the difference between present perfect and past simple?”
“Uhhh….”
Thanks for the comment!
Hahaha! I feel like this is me every day at work (I’m a writer for an ad agency). Sooo stressful (especially when I’m hungry)
Ha! As a teacher, I can relate! I’ve had to eat a few bread sandwiches in my day (that’s when you take two pieces of bread, and put them together. Then you eat them)
Cheers!
Wouldn’t you need three slices of bread to make a bread sandwich?
A cheese sandwich :
BREAD
cheese
BREAD
A bread sandwich:
BREAD
bread
BREAD
I’ve heard that English is the hardest language to learn – and no wonder! Very cute…
English has so many branches it can be very hard at times to store all of it at once.For the most part we even have word definitions that change so much it is hard to keep track half of the time lol.Love the cartoon very funny indeed,thank you for the post.
Ps.First laugh I have had all day really needed that!!!
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LOL, you make me laugh with this one, i got tears in my eyes for laughing out loud, hehehehe 🙂
I’m gonna keep coming back here… thanks 🙂
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying these 🙂
OMG poor guru. I hope he got a few crumbs here and there. 😦
I think I feel too much for crudely drawn yet very expressive cartoons.
I’ll be getting a tablet soon. Perhaps that’ll smooth out some of the roughness of these little guys?
Please don’t make them too smooth! I might not recognize them. )= Also, I don’t want to weep into my pillow over the unfairness of the world. I do that enough each time I see a spread in Sports Illustrated featuring the perfectly Photoshopped bodies of
aliens from supreme racemodels.And I mean “crudely drawn” as a compliment. 🙂 I’m a fan of Live, Nerd, Repeat, Angry Pear and Rage Comics! 🙂
Don’t worry! I’ll be sure to keep the “charm” intact. I write out all the dialogue by hand even though it takes me ages, because I think typed dialogue would take away from the humour a bit. I’m a fan of all those blogs too; there’s something about Angry Pear especially that I find subtly hilarious. My personal favourite of ALL TIMES is the Perry Bible Fellowship, though. 😀
Well, expressed. lol
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As a former adjunct in English composition, I LOVE this blog! As As a writer, I LOVE this blog. As a stickler for grammar, I LOVE Grammar Guru! Great information with humor and art.
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Hello my friend, your blog helped in understanding English language more. Plus I enjoyed your comics a lot too. They always make me laugh especially this one “Grammar Guru” .
I see that your blog is genius and fun that I nominated you to have this award. Kindly check it out here: http://allaboutlemon.com/2012/01/31/omg-my-2nd-genuine-blogger-award/
Keep up the good work and have fun 🙂
Thanks!
When I was in third grade, I remember a teacher telling me, “You spelled ‘their’ wrong.” And I replied, “No I didn’t! I before E except after C!” It was a long time until I finally changed my ways.